On Football, Radio and Refs

I have to be honest. After visiting my Dad down in Toms River and having watched a particularly uninspiring first half of Jets-Chargers action, if you want to call it that, I got in my car for the long ride home. But for about the first agonizing 25 minutes of my ride home, in a driving rainstorm, mind you, I had station 1050 on my dial blasting so as to hear the game thru the static.

The next hour or so, though, was terrific. You should really try it sometime. Once the signal came in clearly, there’s nothing like a car radio and a slightly-crazed announcer in a playoff game to shorten a ride home (except perhaps for windshield wipers….well, maybe the defroster too). By the time I hit the bridge, the Jets were ahead on an agonizingly drawn out call of Sanchez’s rollout and zing to Dustin Keller in the right corner of the endzone.

Of course it got even better from there as the Jets held and then extended the lead. And the call on Shonn Greene’s blast through the Chargers line and safety for the TD making it 17-7 was outstanding. But I was still in the car for Jackson’s catch down the right sideline and by the time that dust settled, I was all the way to Morris Avenue, thrilled that the Chargers gave the Jets 15 yards back on one of the stupidest, most selfish emotional displays ever.

Well, I won’t replay the entire game. We all know what happened. By the time the much-maligned Kerry Rhodes snatched the onside kick, I was in my driveway and I actually got to watch the 4th down burst by Thomas Jones to ensure a Jets berth in the AFC Championship Game. (I can scarcely believe I get the chance to compose that sentence).

The post-game show was just gravy, marred only by the extraordinary analyses of Norv Turner’s decision to go for the onsides kick and Rex Ryan’s decision to go for the first down on 4th and 1. Although both decisions were similar in kind to me, i.e. making a rather bold move to win the game, Ryan’s decision was lauded and Turner’s was panned, over and over and over….

While I had picked the Jets to cover, I never expected them to win. In fact, if they played that same zone garbage in the second half, they would have lost. But Ryan’s instincts are good. Hell, they’ve been impeccable, which, of course, has been the difference between winning and losing, his handling of Rhodes, his handling of Sanchez, his handling of the media….

I must say, though, Ryan’s instincts notwithstanding, that the Jets have had some incredibly good luck as well. First there were the Colts and Bengals not giving a damn for their last two games, and then they got missed field goals in key situations from two pretty good kickers in both the Bengals and Chargers playoff games.

I’m not even a Jets fan, really, although I used to be, before having to witness Stalag Mangini. While I hate to change allegiances from the Giants, it’s not as if I’d have no justification for it. After all, it took Coughlin forever to drop that automaton of a defensive coordinator, which only served to lose the Giants any chance of a playoffs berth. But it may not have been his call. When have the Giants ever dropped a coach mid-season? I’ll give them one more year.

Besides, who would I root for if not the Jets…Favre and Childress and the Vikings? I don’t think so. I’m firmly on the Saints this weekend, hoping against hope the home field noise at the SuperDome and resultant hard counts from Brees will effectively slow that Vikings defensive line. That alone would boost both the Saints’ running and passing games, both of which would come in handy, to say the very least.

While Favre got all the applause Sunday, it was Sidney Rice who was the real star to me, along with a totally clueless Dallas secondary. The first touchdown was absolutely ridiculous. The corner had his back turned. Any play on the ball whatsoever and that catch isn’t made. On another TD, Rice made a nice block, got up, and still Favre had enough time to deliver the ball to him.

The Saints were awesome versus the sorry Cards, a result I did foresee, what with Shockey’s return along with the rest of their defense. They pressured Warner all day. He never had a chance, much as that sorry Cards defense had no shot against either the running of Reggie Bush or the downfield shots from Brees to Colston and company.

I was wrong on the Ravens , I guess, even though I still feel the refs did them in. The calls went the Colts way all game, huge calls, season-altering calls for both teams. The call against Ray Lewis was the only big call that I gave any credence too. The pass interference call on Reed’s interception was horrible. I hate to say it, but these calls seem like “Manning calls.”
I thought I was watching the NBA. If you’re a star, you’re untouchable. If you’re on the stars team, you have an edge. If your name is Manning (or Jordan or LeBron James, etc.), you are the closest thing to God on earth. The Jets will have no chance if he and his team get the same preferential treatment this Sunday, especially with respect to pass interference and hits on the quarterback.

Even give the horrible calls, the Ravens still might have won if not for some extremely questionable play-calling by the Ravens right before the half. They ran almost no time off the clock, giving Manning all the time he needed to break their backs. That game was virtually over at the half.

I’ll be picking the Saints and Jets, hoping the Jets can get a fair shake from the refs.

Colts-Saints by any Measure

It’s amazing that after all these weeks, we still don’t really know which teams are the best. The quality of teams is entirely dependent upon injuries and current form, so the “best” becomes a moving target. Some teams come on at the end, as the Giants did in 2007. The Cowboys, if they can keep it up for another couple of weeks, may be that team this year, as unlikely as that may seem.

But, in the NFC, there’s slim pickin’s. The Saints proved their vulnerability to the Cowboys. The Vikings were shellacked by the now 6-8 Panthers. The Eagles beat a pretty good Niners team and the Giants pasted the Skins. But it would be hard to rate any of the NFC teams with the AFC Colts or Chargers. The closest candidate might be the Eagles.

Week 15 was a horror for some of those NFC teams, and myself for that matter. Nothing figured. If a monkey made my weekly picks, he would’ve killed me.
Minnesota was vastly disappointing. I know this because my best early-year fantasy pickup was Sidney Rice. His QB, Favre, had no time at all. Period. And the great Adrian Peterson did nothing against the now 6-8 Panthers, who proved their inconsistency once again, in a good way.

The Saints looked awful but that might have been the Cowboys doing. Drew Brees had no time to throw. DeMarcus Ware was everywhere. Brees, my fantasy QB, had his first truly bad performance. But if anybody ever had an excuse, it was Mr. Brees. The Cowboys were gangbusters.

The Eagles played a nice game vs. Mike Singletary’s 49ers, and in so doing, to my mind climbed up a few notches. Much as baseball pitchers can have quality starts, teams can have quality wins…good offense, defense and special teams. And it was their 5th win in a row.

The Packers have a great aerial attack and they showed that once again against the Steelers. But their defense leaves a whole lot to be desired, so they lost to Big Ben and the Steelers in the final seconds….just a horrible loss.

While I’m happy the Giants did play better, can they do it two weeks in a row against those same Panthers that kicked butt against Minnesota? While the Skins win proves they can perform with their backs against the wall against a team in turmoil (bye bye Coach Zorn), can they show up again this Sunday?

Personally, I don’t think so. They’ll have to show me.

The Cards kept the lowly Lions in the game till the very end. The Cards will drive you crazy…totally schizo for two years running, but they did do just enough to hold on. And you get the feeling that they’re always a little better than your eyes are telling you.

So, if I had to rate the NFC right now, it’d be Saints, Eagles, Cards, Cowboys, Vikings and Packers. Sorry Giants, you just missed my cut, and you’ll probably miss the actual playoffs cut too. It’s interesting to note that the QB’s involved are Brees, McNabb, Warner, Romo, Favre and Aaron Rodgers, quite the respectable group.

In the AFC, the Colts beat the Jags but sure gave up a lot of points in doing so. The Pats just did what was absolutely necessary against the Bills. Then there are the Bengals and the Chargers, but not in that order.

The Bengals had a lot to play for but the Chargers didn’t let the Bengals take it away from them sheerly on intensity. That’s really saying a lot. Phillip Rivers did his weekly thing with Vincent Jackson and Antonio Gates and their defense did just enough.

There are really only four legitimate AFC playoff teams. The rest are pretenders, the strongest being the Ravens, but all are moderately to seriously flawed. But, with feet held to the fire (I’d feel sorry for the fire), the best AFC teams are the Colts (big surprise), Chargers, Patriots and Bengals; then there are a host of “coulda-beens” headed by Baltimore, and then the Broncos, but Pittsburgh and five other teams are 7-7, and still eligible.

Even the Jets are still in the hunt.

Incidentally, the four best AFC teams are qb’d by Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Tom Brady and Carson Palmer. The Ravens, led by Jersey Joe Flacco and the Broncos, led by Kyle Orton, would seem to be a step behind but the Steelers, should they make the dance are lead be Big Ben Roethlisberger.

The others don’t deserve mentioning, though some might make a case for the Texans’ Matt Schaub. I wouldn’t.

I like using the differential between points scored and points against as a measuring stick . In the AFC, the Colts have the best differential at 146. Second best is, a surprise, the Ravens, at 125, then the Pats at 121. Every other differential is ridiculously small by comparison.

In the NFC, the Saints differential is 185! The Vikings have a 127. Pack 100 and the Eagles a very nice 113. The Cards, on the other hand, have only a 55. If you’re curious, the Giants have a 44, the Cowboys 70. I won’t bore you with the rest.

They say defenses win championships. In the AFC, the Ravens, of course, have a great defense, which contributes mightily to their point differential. They have fewer points (225) scored against them than any other team except the Jets, who lead at 221. But they’ve scored only 282.

In the NFC, the best pure PA stat belongs to the Cowboys, at 250. The next best defense as measured by PA belongs to the 49ers, a non-contender. The other NFC teams really aren’t that great defensively, including the Saints at 298. The Giants have a horrible 342, hardly the stuff of contenders.

Then there’s that axiom “You are what your record says you are”. The Colts are 14-0. The Saints are 13-1. It would seem pretty clear by that measure.